Electronic computer engines for analytical rating and methods of use thereof

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, the instant invention provides an improved computer system programmed for rating which includes at least the following components: a specialized computer machine, having: a processor for executing program code stored in memory, where the program code is configured to at least perform upon the execution: causing to display a first graphical user interface to each consumer to obtain personal identifying information to validate an identity of such consumer; and a confirmation that such consumer meets requirements to be satisfied for rating a business, based on the confirmation, causing to concurrently display a second graphical user interface to display a consumer rating survey having a predetermined number of questions for rating a business to evaluate such business in rating categories of: service, value, ethics, competence, environment, and price; based on responses and predictive analytics, calculating or recalculating a rating score in each rating category for each business.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of U.S. provisional applicationSer. No. 61/905,750, entitled “COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODS AND COMPUTERSYSTEMS RELATED TO ANALYTICAL RATING AND MATCHING INDIVIDUALS AND/ORENTITIES TO SERVICE PROVIDERS,” filed on Nov. 18, 2013; U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 61/905,765, entitled “COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODSAND COMPUTER SYSTEMS RELATED TO ANALYTICAL RATING AND MATCHINGINDIVIDUALS AND/OR ENTITIES TO SERVICE PROVIDERS INDEPENDENTLY OFPRICING AND FRANCHISING PARTICIPATION”; U.S. provisional applicationSer. No. 61/905,773, entitled “COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODS AND COMPUTERSYSTEMS RELATED TO ANALYTICAL RATING AND MATCHING INDIVIDUALS AND/ORENTITIES TO SERVICE PROVIDERS INDEPENDENT OF PRICING”; and U.S.provisional application Ser. No. 61/905,782, entitled“COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODS AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS RELATED TO ANALYTICALRATING AND MATCHING INDIVIDUALS AND/OR ENTITIES TO SERVICE PROVIDERSINDEPENDENT OF FRANCHISEE PARTICIPATION”; which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

In some embodiments, the present invention relates to electronic enginesfor analytical rating, searching, and matching consumers to businessesand methods of use thereof.

BACKGROUND

Typically, if a person is interesting to purchase a product and/or aservice (e.g., having a meal, spa treatment, etc.), he or she can searchelectronic sources/databases (e.g., the Internet) which outputsinformation about business(es) that may offer the product and/or theservice that the person is looking for.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In some embodiments, the instant invention provides for a method beingimplemented by an improved computer system programmed for searching inaccordance with the method, including at least steps of: causing, by aspecially programmed computer rating system, to concurrently display atleast one first graphical user interface from a plurality of firstgraphical user interfaces to a plurality of consumers, where the atleast one first graphical user interface of the plurality of firstgraphical user interfaces is configured to obtain from each consumerfrom the plurality of consumers at least: a) personal identifyinginformation of such consumer to validate an identity of such consumer;and b) a confirmation that such consumer meets a plurality ofrequirements to be satisfied for rating a business, where the pluralityof requirements include: 1) a first requirement, requiring that suchconsumer has interacted with a particular business within apredetermined time period prior to a rating of the particular business;2) a second requirement, requiring that such consumer has not and willnot be compensated by the particular business for the rating, a thirdparty, or both; 3) a third requirement, requiring that such consumer isobligated to disclose any one of personal relationship and businessrelationship, existing between: i) such consumer, any person associatedwith such consumer, or both, and ii) the particular business; 4) afourth requirement, requiring that the information submitted by suchconsumer, at a submission time, is: i) truthful, ii) accurate, and iii)authored by such consumer; and 5) a fifth requirement, requiring thatsuch consumer must not: i) misrepresent the identity of such consumer,and ii) impersonate another consumer, a business, or both; where theplurality of consumers includes at least one thousand consumers; priorto allowing each consumer to rate at least one business, validating, bythe specially programmed computer rating system, each consumer based onthe personal identifying information of such consumer; based on theconfirmation, causing, by the specially programmed computer ratingsystem, to concurrently display at least one second graphical userinterface from a plurality of second graphical user interfaces to theplurality of consumers, where the at least one second graphical userinterface of the plurality of second graphical user interfaces isconfigured to display a consumer rating survey having a predeterminednumber of questions to each consumer of the plurality of consumers forrating at least one business of a plurality of businesses, where thepredetermined number of questions are configured to evaluate eachbusiness in at least the following rating categories: 1) service, 2)value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5) environment, and 6) price; where theplurality of business includes at least one thousand business; based onresponses received from the plurality of consumers to the consumerrating survey for rating the plurality of businesses and predictiveanalytics, calculating or recalculating, by the specially programmedcomputer rating system, a respective rating score in each respectiverating category for each business of the plurality of businesses; andcausing, by the specially programmed computer rating system, toconcurrently output to the plurality of consumers, utilizing at leastone third graphical user interface from a plurality of third graphicaluser interfaces, the respective rating scores in each respective ratingcategories for the plurality of businesses.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: calculating or recalculating an averageoverall rating score for each business of the plurality of businessesbased on rating scores of the rating categories; and where the at leastone third graphical user interface of the plurality of third graphicaluser interfaces is further configured to display the an average ratingscore for each business of the plurality of businesses.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: comparing the average overall rating scorefor each business of the plurality of businesses with an average overallindustry score calculated based on overall rating scores in the ratingcategories for other businesses that are associated with the sameindustry associated with such business; and where the at least one thirdgraphical user interface of the plurality of third graphical userinterfaces is further configured to display an outcome of the comparingthe average overall rating score for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses with the average overall industry score.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: comparing the respective rating score ineach respective rating category with an average category industry scorecalculated based on rating scores in the respective rating category forother businesses that are associated with the same industry associatedwith such business; and where the at least one third graphical userinterface of the plurality of third graphical user interfaces is furtherconfigured to display an outcome of the comparing the respective ratingscore in each respective rating category with an average categoryindustry score.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: determining a lowest rating score and arespective rating category associated with the lowest rating score amongthe rating scores of the rating categories; and where the at least onethird graphical user interface of the plurality of third graphical userinterfaces is further configured to display the lowest rating score andthe respective rating category associated with the lowest rating scoreamong the rating scores of the rating categories.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes at least one of: determining a highestrating score and a respective rating category associated with thehighest rating score among the rating scores of the rating categories;and where the at least one third graphical user interface of theplurality of third graphical user interfaces is further configured todisplay the highest rating score and the respective rating categoryassociated with the highest rating score among the rating scores of therating categories.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: continuously and inreal-time tracking, by the specially programmed computer rating system,a plurality of ratings of the plurality of consumers to validate thatthe plurality of requirement for rating are satisfied.

In some embodiments, the at least one second graphical user interface ofthe plurality of second graphical user interfaces is further configuredto allow each consumer of the plurality of consumers to select ananonymity level, identifying how much of the personal identifyinginformation of such consumer to be disclosed with the rating.

In some embodiments, the predetermined number of questions of theconsumer rating survey is at least twenty five questions.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: generating, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, at least one coachingtutorial for each business of the plurality of businesses based on therespective rating score in each respective rating category; and causing,by the specially programmed computer rating system, utilizing at leastone fourth graphical user interface from a plurality of fourth graphicaluser interfaces, to output to the at least one coaching tutorial to suchbusiness.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: monitoring, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, a plurality of submissionsreceived by the specially programmed computer rating system to remove atleast one of: 1) advertisements, 2) one of compensations for ratings andoffers for compensations for ratings, and 3) links that cause theplurality of consumers to violate the plurality of requirements forrating businesses.

In some embodiments, the at least one second graphical user interface isfurther configured to obtain subsequent ratings for the same businessfrom the plurality of consumers, where a subsequent rating of aparticular consumer is another rating of the same business that followsand overrides a previous rating of the particular consumer; and wherethe calculating or recalculating the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: based on the subsequent ratings from theplurality of consumers and the predictive analytics, recalculating, bythe specially programmed computer rating system, the respective ratingscore in each respective rating category for each business of theplurality of businesses.

In some embodiments, at least one consumer of the plurality of consumersis one of: i) an individual, and ii) a business that desires to obtainat least one service, at least one product, or both, from anotherbusiness.

In some embodiments, at least one business is an individual who offersfor sale at least one service, at least one product, or both.

In some embodiments, the instant invention provides an improved computersystem programmed for searching which includes at least the followingcomponents: at least one specialized computer machine, having: anon-transient memory having at least one region for storing particularcomputer executable program code; and at least one processor forexecuting the particular program code stored in the memory, where theparticular program code is configured to at least perform the followingoperations upon the execution: causing to concurrently display at leastone first graphical user interface from a plurality of first graphicaluser interfaces to a plurality of consumers, where the at least onefirst graphical user interface of the plurality of first graphical userinterfaces is configured to obtain from each consumer from the pluralityof consumers at least: a) personal identifying information of suchconsumer to validate an identity of such consumer; and b) a confirmationthat such consumer meets a plurality of requirements to be satisfied forrating a business, where the plurality of requirements include: 1) afirst requirement, requiring that such consumer has interacted with aparticular business within a predetermined time period prior to a ratingof the particular business; 2) a second requirement, requiring that suchconsumer has not and will not be compensated by the particular businessfor the rating, a third party, or both; 3) a third requirement,requiring that such consumer is obligated to disclose any one ofpersonal relationship and business relationship, existing between: i)such consumer, any person associated with such consumer, or both, andii) the particular business; 4) a fourth requirement, requiring that theinformation submitted by such consumer, at a submission time, is: i)truthful, ii) accurate, and iii) authored by such consumer; and 5) afifth requirement, requiring that such consumer must not: i)misrepresent the identity of such consumer, and ii) impersonate anotherconsumer, a business, or both; where the plurality of consumers includesat least one thousand consumers; prior to allowing each consumer to rateat least one business, validating each consumer based on the personalidentifying information of such consumer; based on the confirmation,causing to concurrently display at least one second graphical userinterface from a plurality of second graphical user interfaces to theplurality of consumers, where the at least one second graphical userinterface of the plurality of second graphical user interfaces isconfigured to display a consumer rating survey having a predeterminednumber of questions to each consumer of the plurality of consumers forrating at least one business of a plurality of businesses, where thepredetermined number of questions are configured to evaluate eachbusiness in at least the following rating categories: 1) service, 2)value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5) environment, and 6) price; where theplurality of business includes at least one thousand business; based onresponses received from the plurality of consumers to the consumerrating survey for rating the plurality of businesses and predictiveanalytics, calculating or recalculating a respective rating score ineach respective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses; and causing to concurrently output to the plurality ofconsumers, utilizing at least one third graphical user interface from aplurality of third graphical user interfaces, the respective ratingscores in each respective rating categories for the plurality ofbusinesses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be further explained with reference to theattached figures.

FIGS. 1-4 are screenshots that illustrate certain aspects of someembodiments of the instant invention.

FIGS. 5-8 are screenshots illustrate certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

FIG. 9 is a screenshot illustrating certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

FIGS. 10-12 are flowcharts illustrating certain aspects of someembodiments of the instant invention.

FIGS. 13-36 are screenshots illustrating certain aspects of someembodiments of the instant invention.

FIGS. 37-80 are charts illustrating certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

FIG. 81 is a flowchart illustrating certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

FIGS. 82-86B are charts illustrating certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

FIG. 87 is a flowchart illustrating certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

FIGS. 88-89B are charts illustrating certain aspects of some embodimentsof the instant invention.

The figures constitute a part of this specification and includeillustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate variousobjects and features thereof. Further, the figures are not necessarilyto scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particularcomponents. In addition, any measurements, specifications and the likeshown in the figures are intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, otherobjects and advantages of this invention can become apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures. Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely illustrative of the invention that may be embodied in variousforms. In addition, each of the examples given in connection with thevarious embodiments of the invention which are intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Any alterations and furthermodifications of the inventive feature illustrated herein, and anyadditional applications of the principles of the invention asillustrated herein, which can normally occur to one skilled in therelevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to beconsidered within the scope of the invention.

Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take themeanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. The phrases “in one embodiment” and “in someembodiments” as used herein do not necessarily refer to the sameembodiment(s), though it may. Furthermore, the phrases “in anotherembodiment” and “in some other embodiments” as used herein do notnecessarily refer to a different embodiment, although it may. Thus, asdescribed below, various embodiments of the invention may be readilycombined, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

In addition, as used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or”operator, and is equivalent to the term “and/or,” unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. The term “based on” is not exclusive andallows for being based on additional factors not described, unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, throughout thespecification, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include pluralreferences. The meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.”

It is understood that at least one aspect/functionality of variousembodiments described herein can be performed in real-time and/ordynamically. As used herein, the term “real-time” is directed to anevent/action can occur instantaneously or almost instantaneously in timewhen another event/action has occurred. In some embodiments, the terms“instantaneous,” “instantaneously,” “instantly,” and “in real time”refer to a condition where a time difference between a first time when asearch request is transmitted and a second time when a response to therequest is received is no more than 1 second. In some embodiments, thetime difference between the request and the response is between lessthan 1 second and 1 minute. As used herein, the term “dynamic(ly)” isdirected to an event/action that can occur without any humanintervention. In some embodiments, the dynamic event/action may be inreal-time, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a matchingcomputer-programmed engine that allows an individual and/or entity (e.g.customer and/or consumer) to: a) provide analytical rating; b) searchfor; c) match; and then d) identify trustworthy businesses (referred toas “service providers”). It is understood that a “service provider” mayinclude, but is not limited to, a provider of services, merchant sellingproducts or services and/or any other individual and/or entity thatprovides or sells services and/or products. As such, a “serviceprovider” may include, but is not limited to, an individual, pluralityof individuals and/or entity that is a: a) business-to-business (B2B)describing commerce transactions between businesses, such as between amanufacturer and retailer, or between a wholesaler and a retailer; b)business-to-consumer (B2C); and/or c) business-to-government (B2G). Assuch, the service provider may be an individual, company and/or otherlegal entity. It is also understood that “WZG” means the entity thatperforms the system and/or method of the present invention, as detailedbelow.

In some embodiments, the present invention is an integrity-based ratingprocess based on a reliable rating of one or more service providersusing one or more predictive analytics. In some embodiments, the presentinvention allows to promote ethical commerce and provide a trustworthyvehicle to enable an individual and/or entity (e.g. customer and/orconsumer) to identify one or more service providers that operate withintegrity. In some embodiments, the present invention allows forcomplete transparency by requiring one or more service providers topublicly disclose important information (e.g. shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 9)about themselves as a condition to registering with the presentinvention. In some embodiment, such important information may beobtained by, but not limited to: a) questionnaire to service providersand/or individual or entity (e.g. customer and/or consumer); b) thirdparty sources; and/or c) other trustworthy sources. In some embodiments,the present invention does not sell advertising to service providers,does not include paid advertising on the site; and/or allow serviceproviders to “purchase” their way to higher ratings. In someembodiments, the present invention allows service providers to improvetheir rankings by improving customer satisfaction through, for example,coaching, enhanced feedback and/or other methods that result reliableincrease customer satisfaction. In another embodiment, the number ofservice providers are 5, 10, 100, 1000, 10,000 or more. In yet anotherembodiment, the number of individuals and/or entities evaluating oneservice providers that results in the analytical rating are 10, 100,1000 10,000 or more.

In some embodiments, the present invention allows an individual and/orentity (e.g. customer and/or consumer) to match and to identify therelative rankings of a plurality of service provider within an industry(e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and more). In some embodiments, thepresent invention allows an individual and/or entity (e.g. customerand/or consumer) free matching (which have limited functionality and/orgeographic scope of coverage) and/or paid matching (pricing variesdepending on the features and/or geographic scope of coverage of thedesired match). In some embodiments, an individual and/or entity (e.g.customer and/or consumer) may also participate in a “matching program”where an individual and/or entity (e.g. customer and/or consumer) canrequest that up to, for example but not limited to, X selected service(e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and/or any pre-determined number) providers tocontact the consumer to provide additional information (e.g. quote,price or additional details).

In some embodiments, each evaluation of a service provider requires theindividual and/or entity (e.g. customer) to rate the service providerbased on a series of quality and integrity standards that are customizedfor the industry by a designated Vertical Director. In some embodiments,service providers, who register with the WZG, can monitor customerratings and interact with customers (unless the customer has chosen toutilize a protected identity—e.g. anonymity) to improve their rankingsand level of customer satisfaction. In some embodiments, serviceproviders do not pay any fees to register with WGZ. In some embodiments,service providers must disclose certain information about their businessthat will be available to an individual and/or entity (e.g. customerand/or consumer) searching the present invention integrity matchingengine. In some embodiments, the specific information that must bedisclosed by service providers within a given industry will bepre-determined by the Vertical Director.

In some embodiments, the present invention allows registered serviceproviders to purchase various business support products and/or servicesto improve their operations, such as, but is not limited to, businesscoaching and predictive analytics. In one embodiment, a “registered”service provider is a service provider that agrees to publicly discloseimportant information (e.g. shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 9) about themselvesas a condition to registering with the present invention. In someembodiment, such important information may be obtained by, but notlimited to: a) questionnaire to service providers and/or individual orentity (e.g. customer and/or consumer); b) third party sources; and/orc) other trustworthy sources.

As the company's business operations improve, the customer ratingsshould also improve, thereby providing the company with a higher rankingon the present invention integrity search engine and driving morebusiness to the company. In some embodiments, the present inventionallows service providers to purchase subscriptions which will providethem with access to increasing levels of business tips, tools,resources, training, industry data and/or competitive analysis reports.In some embodiments, a subscription may also entitle the serviceprovider to discounts on some of the business support products andservices.

In some embodiments, the present invention allows to support ethicalcommerce through integrity, authenticity, fairness and transparency.

In some embodiments, each rating is a result of statistical analysisusing e.g. predictive analytics. In some embodiments, this processensures ratings are qualified and objective. In some embodiments, thepresent invention relies on that an individual (e.g. customer and/orconsumer) cannot misrepresent who she/he is, impersonate another person,or rate on behalf of someone you personally know. In some embodiments,each individual (e.g. customer and/or consumer) fills in a profile thatclearly identifies the individual (e.g. customer and/or consumer) as areal person. In some embodiments, each individual (e.g. customer and/orconsumer) promises to give honest answers to the present invention. Forexample, as shown in the figures below, each individual (e.g. customerand/or consumer) is required to first to answer a “terms and conditions”questionnaire prior to be allowed to participate in the rating system.

In some embodiments, the present invention allows an individual (e.g.customer and/or consumer) to rate a service provider at any time,whether the service provider is “registered” or not. In someembodiments, the present invention allows the service provider to“register”, so the service provider can then get rating notices, trackrating trends and/or obtain leads. In some embodiments, to participate,the service provider agrees to: not misrepresent who you are,impersonate another person or business; not rate a competitornegatively; not pay anyone to rate specific business; post only truthfuland accurate information; understand that transparency is of the utmostimportant to all participants who register. For example, as shown in thefigures below, each service provider is required to first answer a “termand conditions” questionnaire prior to being allowed to register. Insome embodiments, the present invention allows for authenticity,fairness and transparency.

In some embodiments, the present invention offers online serviceprovider search based on merit alone. In some embodiments, the presentinvention enables an individual and/or entity (e.g. customer and/orconsumer) to quickly search for, match and/or identify trustworthyservice provider listed in the order of their customer ratings. In someembodiments, the present invention provides no legal opportunity for aservice provider to buy its way to the top of ranking.

In some embodiments, the present invention allows for a VerticalDirector opportunity to qualify a service provider who have or willrecruit substantial expertise in their vertical industry and whodemonstrate the highest standards of integrity, ethics andprofessionalism. In some embodiments, the Vertical Director must provideWZG with references, complete the present invention's PersonalInformation Form (PIF), complete the WZ character assessment processand/or provide WZG with other background information. In someembodiments, the Vertical Director must be an individual/entity ofexcellent moral character and integrity who has sufficient skill,aptitude, industry qualifications and experience, service providerability and financial resources to serve as a Vertical Director andrepresent WGZ. Such a determination may be made through predictiveanalytics using questionnaires and other third party information. Insome embodiments, there are approximately 180 vertical industries (forexample, the plumbing industry, legal industry, chiropractic industry,etc.). In some embodiments, a Vertical Director is responsible fordeveloping a vertical industry, such as:

-   -   Increase the number of service providers in the specific        industry who become registered service providers;    -   Promote WGZ service provider support products and services to        registered service providers in specific industry;    -   Develop and define the integrity standards and qualifications        that must be satisfied by registered service providers in        specific industry;    -   Monitor registered service providers in specific industry to        ensure compliance with these transparency and integrity        standards;    -   Increase public awareness of the WGZ integrity search engine;        and/or    -   Increase the number of consumers using the WGZ search engine.

In some embodiments, at least one of the above Vertical Director'sresponsibilities forms “present invention Project”.

In some embodiments, the Vertical Director gets a commission based, atleast in part, on the gross revenues (less any applicable taxes) that itgenerates from at least one of:

-   -   Paid searches within the specific industry;    -   Subscriptions by service providers in the specific industry;        and/or    -   Sales of WGZ business support products and services to service        providers within specific industry.

In some embodiments, the Vertical Director receives revenues only frompurchases made by: (i) service providers in specific industry who haveregistered with WGZ using a service provider address located within theUnited States or Canada (i.e., “qualifying” registered serviceproviders); and/or (ii) consumers who conduct searches (or utilize otherfeatures) pertaining to qualifying registered service providers.

In some embodiments, the Vertical Director's target market includes: (i)members of the general public who seek goods or services from serviceproviders within specific industry; and/or (ii) service providers withinspecific industry. In some embodiments, the present invention returnssearch results having service provider organized in the order of theirrating as a default search setting, and combines it with a numericalscale that simplifies the search.

In some embodiments, the present invention local searches are free toconsumers. In some embodiments, rating system is numerical, e.g. 1-100,plus an optional comment field. In some embodiments, service providerare listed & rated on the present invention site for free. In someembodiments, the present invention provides a listing of X serviceprovider per page (e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and/or more) in response to acategory search; service providers are listed in customer rated order,highest to lowest (default). In some embodiments, other sorts available:by distance, # of ratings, filtered by claimed service provider, etc. Insome embodiments, the present invention offers no sponsored ads, nor anyway for the service provider to get listed above another serviceprovider with a higher rating. In some embodiments, the serviceprovider′ rating alone determines the order in which it will appear. Insome embodiments, service providers have the option of participating ina leads program, where a “quick connect” option is provided to thesearching consumer, allowing the consumer to easily contact the selectedservice provider a default lead fee. In some embodiments, the presentinvention can charge for additional analytics reports & service providerimprovement programs.

In some embodiments, the present invention does not even allow discountscoupons, which may change the perception of a service provider.

In some embodiments, the present invention utilizes scientific ratingsystem. The present invention is a numeric, scientific rating system(e.g. 1-100, 1-50, 1-25 and a lower number above 0). This is in contrastto any 5 star rating system, and/or to A-F system. In some embodiments,the present invention allows to eliminate a confusion that results whenservice providers are sorted in rated order, it becomes very difficultto differentiate between all the A's/5 star ratings utilized bymethodologies other than the instant invention's. Consequently, in someembodiments, the present invention's combination of a default listing byrating, along with a numerical scale of e.g. 1-100 makes the consumerssearch find a trusted service provider.

Advisory Council

In some embodiments, the WGZ allows for creation of a franchise advisorycouncil(s) to provide suggestions to improve the Vertical Directorsystem, including matters such as marketing, operations and new presentinvention product or service suggestions. In some embodiments, thefranchise advisory council(s) can have the exclusive right to develop aselected industry within a selected territory. In some embodiments, theVertical Director can have the exclusive right to receive commissionsfrom the gross revenues (less any applicable taxes) that WZD generateswithin the United States and Canada from:

-   -   Paid searches within specific industry;    -   Subscriptions by service providers in specific industry; and/or    -   Sales of WGZ business support products and services to service        providers within specific industry.

Examples of Illustrative Features in Accordance with Some Embodiments ofthe Present Invention

“Mentoring” Service

In some embodiments, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention allow the “Top Rated” service providers to:

-   -   host webinars/seminars (e.g., not necessarily the franchisee);        and/or    -   raise overall industry ratings.

Coaching

In one embodiment, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention provide consumer rated information that guides coaching. Inanother embodiment, based on questionnaire analytics of serviceprovider, a coach, who also has been analyzed based on questionnaireanalytics, is matched.

Price Charged To Service Providers

In one embodiment, the pricing is established based on number of “leads”that are generated (e.g. individual or entity that request to contactthe service provider), such as, but not limited to:

a) email—direct links, and

b) phone—direct links.

Various Examples of Illustrative Payment Plans Set-Up for ChargingService Providers

a) “Gold”: 5 free leads/month−cost×dollars

b) Platinum:—cost y dollars

i) 10 free leads/month;

ii) advance analytics; and

iii) CRM System

In some embodiments, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention (e.g., WZG) can offer one or more of the followingfunctionalities:

1) feedback;

2) statistical analysis;

3) objective analysis;

4) ratings are objective;

5) take responsibility;

6) service providers are coached on improve their rating;

and/or any combination thereof.

Illustrative Matching System(s)

In some embodiments, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention provide an ability to do a national score at a pricing modelsuch as, but not limited to:

-   -   compare feature with X parameters (e.g., services, products)    -   WZG “NOW”        -   Pay a premium: available immediately    -   WGZ “Compare”:        -   Pay: “buyer criteria match”:            -   Matches X (e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) consumer criteria                (e.g., a basic personal profile (e.g., information                generated based on questionnaire having twenty of less                questions)) with one or more service providers;    -   WGZ “personality match”:        -   additional consumer profile matching.

In some embodiments, the present invention can offer an up-sale byutilizing recommend functionality such as a feature of “other productsyou may be interested” (e.g. individual and/or entity request for amatch for service X & present invention recommends to purchase otherproducts.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to the inventivesystems and methods of the instant invention that notify individualsand/or entities that regularly/periodically and/or ad hoc-basis providesupdated ratings of service providers.

Exemplary Information about a Service Provider

-   -   Background Information of a service provider:        -   provided by Service provider and/or        -   provided by individual and/or entity        -   provided by third party source.

Exemplary Enhanced Business Information

In some embodiments, only business can edit/add the enhanced businessinformation (e.g., information that is not publicly available about thebusiness).

“Two Way” Matching Engine

In one embodiment, a service provider can use the matching engine(s)programmed in accordance with the inventive systems and methods of theinstant invention to determine whether the proper individual and/orentity is matched—for example, allowing the service provider to minimizea chance of having a “client from hell.”

In another embodiment, the matching engine(s) programmed in accordancewith the inventive systems and methods of the instant invention can useinformation from social networks as additional input.

Illustrative Examples of Rules-Based Systems and Methods of the InstantInvention:

-   -   “Overall Rating” (e.g., aggregate of all ratings)—following        illustrative examples:

a) Range (from lowest to highest)

b) average (e.g. weighted average, arithmetic average)

c) individual scores:—low and high.

Illustrative Examples of Verification

In one embodiment, the individual and/or entity must be verified inorder to evaluate the service provider (e.g., to minimize a chance of“gaming the system”). In one embodiment, the individual and/or entity isverified by the individual and/or entity agreeing to the terms andconditions. In another example, the individual and/or entity is verifiedusing social media verification. In some embodiments, the inventivesystems and methods of the instant invention can utilize theverification that includes, but are not limited to:

-   -   Text mail verification    -   email address verification    -   QR code {Trusted site}    -   Bar code {Trusted site}    -   Address {Trusted site}    -   Fax number {Trusted site}    -   Fingerprint {Trusted site}

Illustrative examples of Anonymity

In some embodiments, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention can utilize an encrypted site (e.g., encrypting every page).In one embodiment, although the individual and/or entity must beverified, the individual and/or entity can select the degree ofanonymity (e.g. a user name, a real name (first and/or last), an email,or other identifications).

Illustrative Examples of How Information can Inputted in Accordance withSome Embodiments of the Instant Invention

-   -   Input to the system and method may include, but is not limited        to, text, pictures, figures or video. For example, video and        pictures may include: images of work performed by the service        provider; images of the place of the service provider; images of        the product of the service provider; and/or images of the        service provider. Such a video may include 2D or 3D images.    -   Individual and/or entity (e.g. customer and/or consumer) is        asked X questions (e.g. 10, 15, 20, 25 and/or more) before        individual and/or entity can evaluate a service provider—also        known as the pre-qualification step (e.g. by a text or video        questionnaire).

In one embodiment, these X questions are generic for all individualsand/or entities.

In another embodiment, at least a portion of these X questions arecustomized based on the service provider segment.

Illustrative Examples of a Rating System in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments of the Instant Invention

In some embodiments, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention provide an objective rating system, using a statistical scorebased on a plurality of individuals and/or entities (e.g. customersand/or consumers), being determined by asking X questions and thenapplying predictive analytics.

In one embodiment, the rule base system allows the individual and/orentity to evaluate Y service providers (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and/or more)per time period (e.g., day, month and/or year).

In another embodiment, the inventive systems and methods of the instantinvention can utilize rules that allow an individual and/or entity toprovide a remedial review (e.g., the remedial review can replace thepreviously provided review, or being given more weight (in total scoreor per rating category) to Y service providers (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5and/or more) per time period (e.g. day, month and/or year).

As shown in the below figures, in addition to an overall rating, Xadditional criteria are displayed (e.g. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or morecriteria)—for example, service, value, ethics, competence, environment,price, any other suitable criteria, and any combination thereof.

FIGS. 1-36 illustrate features in accordance with some embodiments ofthe instant invention.

Illustrative Examples of Service Provider (SP) and Consumer Offerings inAccordance with Some Embodiments of the Instant Invention

Geographic Categories:

Local:

-   -   SP's within a 20 mile (32 km) radius

Regional:

-   -   SP's within a 200 mile (322 km) radius

National:

-   -   All SP's within the U.S. & Canada

WZG “Search”

In some embodiments, the term “WZG Search” is directed to the scope ofService Providers to be searched and presented in search results:

-   -   WZG Search (local)—default: search results based on all SP's        listed in the category within a 20 mile radius;    -   WZG Search (regional): search results based on all SP's listed        in the category within a 200 mile radius;    -   WZG Search (national): search results based on all SP's listed        in the category within the US & Canada.

WZG “Now”:

In some embodiments, the term “WZG Search” is directed to, for example,“Immediate Service” or “Jump to the front of the line,” where SP's whohave the “Now”/“Priority”/“First” designator, agreed to accept WZGconsumers on an emergency basis (definition of emergency basis may varyby industry (e.g., 2 hours, 2 days, or 2 weeks).

In some embodiments, Service Providers (SPs) who participate in the “WZGNow” program will have a special emblem with their listing.

In some embodiments, a functionality of “WZG Now Sort” can be utilizedby consumer to also request a list of WZG SPs who offer “Now” service.

WZG “Deal”:

In some embodiments, can be utilized for a coupon offering/special price“deal”—SP's who participate in the Gold or Platinum plan have the optionof offering a discount or special offer coupon.

In some embodiments, Service Providers who participate in the WZG Dealprogram can have a special emblem with their listing.

In some embodiments, WZG engine(s) in accordance with some embodimentsof the instant invention can automatically take X % commission.

WZG Deal Sort

In some embodiments, consumers may also request a list of WZG SPs whooffer “Deal” service.

WZG “Leads/Compare”:

there can be at least two sources of providing leads to SPs, bothinitiated when the consumer's search does not provide an obvious choice.In some embodiments, the consumer may then either select:

-   -   i. A match based on the consumer's buying criteria; or    -   ii. To have up to 3 SP's to compare, and to be contacted        by/receive a quote from those 3 SP's.

Buyer Criteria Match

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic matching engine systems inaccordance with the instant invention can match consumer to SP based onthe buyer's ranked criteria; and does not require consumer or SP tocomplete any type of assessment or profile. For example, but not limitedto, matching based on price, proximity, competence, provider'sbackground, certifications, years of experience, biographic data(preferred SP gender, age, ethnicity, etc.).

In some embodiments, the consumer can be forced to really prioritizetheir criteria (i.e., to complete their Buyer's Profile).

In some embodiments, Buyer's Criteria can vary by vertical. For example,for some services, the buyer may be price sensitive, for others,proximity might be most important or environment (ambiance) & servicemight be the highest priority.

In some embodiments, different definitions of the criteria can be variedbased on industry type. Example, the term “environment” for a restauranthas many nuances (some like noisy, raucous environments, some want quietwith white table cloths); likewise competence mean for a restaurant canidentify food quality, taste, etc.

In some embodiments, the rating systems in accordance with someembodiments of the instant invention utilize the SP background datacollection (e.g., gender, etc.), depending on what criteria we allow. Insome embodiments, the rating systems in accordance with some embodimentsof the instant invention are able to continuously and automaticallylearn/update the “Buyer's Criteria” searching/ranking as more specificinformation about the service providers has been received.

In some embodiments, WZG's “Compare” functionality requires a SP to optin electronically to the WZG's “Leads” program. In some embodiments,whether using the WZGs “Compare” or WZG's “Buyer Criteria” match option,the consumer is automatically presented with a list of WZG's SPs whoparticipate in the WZG's “Leads” Leads program; which requires that theypay a “lead fee” for the lead. In some embodiments, the matching enginesof the instant inventions automatically notify SP(s) that the consumerhas either specifically selected them or been matched to them, andagree(s) to pay a lead fee ($XX typical) for the consumer's contactinformation & project description, which can vary by category.

In some embodiments, SPs who participate in the Buyer Criteria Matchprogram can be charged $X-$Y lead fee. In some embodiments, there can bea maximum of 3 matches provided as a result of this matching algorithm.

In some embodiments, consumers also pay $XX.XX for a Buyer Criteriamatch search.

Compare Functionality

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIGS. 81 and 87, the CompareFunctionality refers to a specific consumer request for contact or aquote from multiple SPs (e.g., up to 3, 5, 10). In some embodiments, SPswho participate in the Gold or Platinum plan have the option ofparticipating in the “Leads” program, and have to respond to consumerrequests.

In some embodiments, Service Providers who participate in the WZG Leadsprogram can have a special emblem with their listing.

In some embodiments, the inventive engines/systems of the instantinvention (e.g., WZG) can charges a flat fee for the lead ($X-$XX.). Insome embodiments, the charges per lead can vary based at least in parton a type of industry (e.g., higher for Health/Medical category). Insome embodiments, fee can also vary by category.

WZG “Match” . . . “WhoZaBest4me”

In some embodiments, “WhoZaBest4me” identifies the matching process(es)in accordance with the instant invention. In some embodiments, the“WhoZaBest4me” functionality can refer to matching consumers with SPs.In some embodiments, there can be two levels of personality matchingalgorithms under the WhoZabest4me umbrella. In some embodiments, theconsumer can choose one or the other, not both.

In some embodiments, the levels of personality matching can match aconsumer to a SP based on personality fit. In some embodiments, thepersonality matching requires both consumer and SP to have completed apersonality psychometric assessment. In some embodiments, there can beat least two types of personality matching: coarse and fine matchoptions:

“Coarse match” is based on a personality “mini-assessment” (e.g., 10 to30 questions, 10 to 100 questions, etc.)

“Fine match” is based on a full psychometric profile (e.g., 11-500questions, 31-500 questions, 101-500 questions, etc.).

In some embodiments, the Consumer's Screen and/or Profile Assessmentscould be used/may be required in other suitable situations (e.g.,employee matching to Employers).

In some embodiments, the SP's Screen and/or Profile Assessments could beused/may be required in other situations (Coaching, Recruiting,Promoting, etc.).

WZG “Integrity Certified”

In some embodiments, WZG Integrity Certified refers to Service Providerswho have completed and passed the WZG Integrity Certification processwhich can entail at least:

WZG Executive Integrity assessment—an individual self-assessment forbusiness owners/company executives;

WZG Organization Integrity assessment—designed for all employees tocomplete anonymously reports rating for following 6 company levels:

Executive/Management

Sales

Office Admin/Staff

Technical

Other

All.

In some embodiments, the inventive computer systems of instant inventionautomatically establish a policy for who has to complete whichassessments:

-   -   a sole proprietor—WZG Executive Integrity Assessment    -   for large companies (>x employees)—Organizational Integrity        assessment and/or Executive Integrity assessment    -   For mid-sized companies (>1, <x employees).

In some embodiments, those SP's who complete and pass the requiredassessments will be “Integrity Certified” and receive a special emblemwherever their listing appears.

In some embodiments, the inventive computer systems of instant inventioncan give a preference for the integrity certified SP's. In someembodiments, the inventive computer systems of instant invention offer“Integrity Certified” as an option for the “Provider Profile” class ofmatch.

Additional Analytics

Business Analytics—Basic: refers to a report provided to SP's whichreports # of views & # of leads generated in their category, along withthe # of clicks they received: “Lost Opportunity Report.”

Competitive Analysis/Industry Segment Reports: Gold& platinumparticipants have access to analysis of how they compare with the othercompanies in their category, as well as how their customer ratings aretrending.

Advanced Market Research Data: in some embodiments, the inventivecomputer engines of instant invention can accumulate and compileinformation relative to buyer's search and/or shopping patterns, as wellas performance data on successful offerings. In some embodiments, theinventive computer systems of instant invention allow to share this datawith platinum members.

Mobile App Access: In some embodiments, the inventive computer systemsof instant invention can provide a mobile app to gold & platinum memberswhich will notify them of new ratings and new Request for Contact/Quote(WZG Leads).

Webinars Types

Generic (Included in the Platinum Package and/or Gold Packages):Businesses will have access to a variety of webinars on business successfrom dealing with existing customers to finding new customers.

Industry Specific: These will be vertical specific on best practices fora particular vertical e.g. Chiropractic or Auto Industry. In someembodiments, Vertical Directors may assist in developing these bestpractices webinars for their industry or provide WZG with access toexisting premium quality webinars for their industry. In someembodiments, price may include a discount for platinum members.

FIGS. 82 and 88 show an illustrative pricing plan for SPs in accordancewith some embodiments of the instant invention.

FIGS. 83-84 show illustrative pricing plans for Customers in accordancewith some embodiments of the instant invention.

FIG. 85 shows an illustrative sample of Service Provider's questionnairein the medical/healthcare industry.

FIG. 89A-89B show an illustrative sample of Consumer's prequalificationand rating questionnaires.

Illustrative Rating Questions and Exemplary Rating Engine's Rules

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention can utilize at least the followingprequalifying questions for consumers as a condition for rating aService Provider:

Have you done business with this provider within the last 3 years?

When was the last service provided?

What service was provided?

Standard Rating Questions will cover the following categories:

Service Quality

Competence

Environment

Value

Ethics

Price

Review of Criteria

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention can require the consumer to agree to at leastthe following terms or their substantively similar versions:

-   -   “You are expected to understand the standards of performance        most important within your industry. You are responsible for        reviewing and modifying/customizing the rating questions to        better fit the industry needs.”

Illustrative Activities Associated with Franchisees and Advisory BoardsUtilized by the Inventive Electronic Engine/Computer Systems andComputer-Implemented Methods of the Instant Invention

In some embodiments, FIGS. 37-80

Financial Projections

FIGS. 86A-86B show illustrative financial projections for operations ofan exemplary franchisee. In some embodiments, the inventive electronicengine/computer systems and computer-implemented methods of the instantinvention calculate, update, and/or track in real-time franchisee'sgoals and/or performance by franchisee of those financial projections.

In some embodiments, the inventive engines of the instant invention canoperate as a subscription service to which both customers and serviceproviders subscribe to. In some embodiments, there can be varioussubscription levels that can be based on, but not limited to: usageand/or price. In some embodiments, there can be various subscriptionlevels that are not non-usage/non-price based, but based on charging foraccess during a predetermined time period which can be periodic (e.g.,monthly, annual, etc.). In some embodiments, the inventive engines ofthe instant invention can operate a subscription service based on aplurality of membership rules such as, but not limited to, identified inTable 1.

TABLE 1 Membership Before posting any content on WhoZaGood.com, you mustregister as either a consumer member or a service provider member. Whilebasic search features of the Website are available to the public withoutregistration, certain enhanced search features require membership andpayment of the applicable fee. Business membership is free. In additionto free basic membership for service providers, WhoZaGood offers aPay-As-You-Go Plan, Gold Plan and a Platinum Plan for a fee. If youregister as a service provider, whether under the basic plan or a paidupgrade, you are required to provide complete and accurate disclosure ofthe information requested in the application form. To create or update abusiness membership account, you must be the owner or an authorizedemployee or representative of the business. A business may not have morethan one listing unless expressly authorized by WhoZaGood. If WhoZaGooddetermines, in its sole discretion, that you have violated any provisionof these Terms, it will terminate your membership. Membership fees arenon-refundable even if membership is terminated before the end of thepaid-for term. Membership fees are non-refundable even if youdiscontinue your membership before the period that you paid for hasexpired. WhoZaGood reserves the right to increase membership fees at anytime with no advance notice. When creating your account, you mustprovide accurate and complete information. You are solely responsiblefor the activity that occurs on your account, whether expresslyauthorized by you or not. You are responsible for keeping your accountpassword secure. You may change your password at any time by updatingyour Account Profile. In addition, you agree to immediately notifyWhoZaGood of any unauthorized use of your password or account or anyother breach of security. WhoZaGood cannot and will not be liable forany loss or damage arising from your failure to secure your account andpassword, including but not limited to selecting a password that iseasily compromised. You are not allowed to use another customer'saccount without that customer's permission. Unless previously notifiedotherwise, we will assume that anyone visiting the Website with acorrect account and password combination is an authorized user of thataccount. By registering with WhoZaGood, you represent that you are oflegal age and capacity to enter into a binding contract and are not aperson barred by any laws from using the Website. You agree to providetrue, accurate, current and complete information about yourself in allrequired fields of the registration form. If any of your informationchanges, you agree to update your registration information as soon aspossible. If we have reason to suspect that your registrationinformation is not complete, current, or accurate, or that you haveotherwise violated this Agreement, your account will be subject tosuspension or termination, in our sole discretion, and you may be barredfrom using the Website.

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention can require to receive input and/or regularreviews by an Advisory Board.

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention can allow a franchisee to create a board ofadvisers from among the leaders within a particular industry. In someembodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methods of theinstant invention can require a franchisee to establish a strategicadvisory board within a predetermined time period (e.g., 90 days) afterbecoming the franchisee. In some embodiments, the inventive electronicengine systems and methods of the instant invention, the advisory boardcan include between 2 to 10 individuals that hold positions of respectand influence in your industry (e.g., each has one of highest mentioningin industry publications, each has one of most number of speakinginvitations, each has one of the highest income, etc.)

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention, the advisory board can include between 4 and 6individuals that hold positions of respect and influence in yourindustry.

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention screen candidates from advisory board based onparticular requirements such as, but not limited to:

1) one board member must be a Social Media Marketing expert, and

2) one board member must be selected by the inventive engines of theinstant invention.

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention are configured to confirm that Advisory Boardsare targeted to specific markets and/or industries, and track howAdvisory Boards' performance of a plurality of the following objectives,but not limited to:

-   -   develop and define the integrity standards for the service        providers in an industry;        -   establish/finalize SP profile;        -   establish/finalize consumer rating questions;        -   establish/finalize consumer profile;            -   review/Approve WZG paid search pricing recommendations;            -   review/Support financial projections;            -   review decisions for SP removal from WZG site (e.g.,                violations, appeals, etc); and            -   develop and execute a marketing plan to build the WZG                brand within the industry.

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention are configured to quantifiably confirm, basedon pre-determined metrics, that Advisory Boards' members meet aplurality of characteristics/Traits such as, but not limited to:

1) integrity—not only possess, but motivated to bring it back toindustry (e.g., metrics—peer review rating, etc.),

2) leadership skills (e.g., metrics—a number of senior managementpositions held, etc.),

3) transparency (e.g., metrics—a number of consumer complaints, criminalinvestigations, etc.),

4) communication skills (e.g., metrics—a number of public speakingengagements per a time period),

5) results orientation (e.g., metrics—a number of times reachedannounced goals),

6) multi-tasking (e.g., metrics—how many positions engaged at the sametime),

7) time management (e.g., metrics—how many positions engaged at the sametime),

8) persuasiveness (e.g., metrics—conducting/analyzing peerquestionnaires, etc.),

9) strategic thinking (e.g., metrics—a number of industry trendsforecasted/participated in), and

10) influence—well-connected in the industry (e.g., metrics—a number ofindustry connections on Linkedin, etc).

Illustrative Examples of Screening of Franchisees in Accordance with theInstant Invention

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention are configured to screen franchisees based onat least the following information, but not limited to, which theyobtain/received from franchisees and/or independently from third partysources:

1) Personal Identifying Information

-   -   background information (e.g., name, social security#,        residential history, financial history, educational history,        employment history, other business activities (e.g., # hours        engaged, duties, non-compete restrictions, employment        eligibility in a particular locality, etc.)    -   criminal history    -   prior regulatory issues    -   bankruptcy.

In some embodiments, the inventive electronic engine systems and methodsof the instant invention are configured to obtain from a potentialfranchisee candidate a declaration that all information provided istruthful and/or to the best on the knowledge.

Illustrative Operating Environments

In some embodiments, the innovative programmed systems can be operatedover other operating systems, such as, but not limited to, iOS andAndroid. In some embodiments, the innovative programmed systems can benative to a software platform and/or incorporate programing modulesbased at least in part on HTML5-based tools like PhoneGap or Sencha. Insome embodiments, the innovative programmed systems can include modulesthat are programmed to provide intelligent dynamic promotion andadvertising, mobile payments, augmented reality, etc.

FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of an environment in which thepresent invention may operate. However, not all of these components maybe required to practice the invention, and variations in the arrangementand type of the components may be made without departing from the spiritor scope of the invention. In some embodiment, the inventive systems canhost a large number of members (e.g., at least 1,000, at least 10,000;at least 100,000; at least 1,000,000) and/or concurrent transactions(e.g., at least 1,000; at least 10,000; at least 100,000; at least1,000,000). In other embodiments, the inventive systems are based on ascalable computer and network architecture that incorporates variesstrategies for assessing the data, caching, searching, and databaseconnection pooling. An example of the scalable architecture is anarchitecture that is capable of operating multiple servers.

In some embodiments, members of the inventive computer system 102-104(e.g. user (e.g., individuals, businesses, etc.) include virtually anycomputing device capable of receiving and sending a message over anetwork, such as network 105, to and from another computing device, suchas servers 106 and 107, each other, and the like. In embodiments, theset of such devices includes devices that typically connect using awired communications medium such as personal computers, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,network PCs, and the like. In embodiments, the set of such devices alsoincludes devices that typically connect using a wireless communicationsmedium such as cell phones, smart phones, pagers, walkie talkies, radiofrequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR) devices, CBs, integrated devicescombining one or more of the preceding devices, or virtually any mobiledevice, and the like. Similarly, in embodiments, client devices 102-104are any device that is capable of connecting using a wired or wirelesscommunication medium such as a PDA, POCKET PC, wearable computer, andany other device that is equipped to communicate over a wired and/orwireless communication medium.

In embodiments, each member device within member devices 102-104 mayinclude a browser application that is configured to receive and to sendweb pages, and the like. In embodiments, the browser application may beconfigured to receive and display graphics, text, multimedia, and thelike, employing virtually any web based language, including, but notlimited to Standard Generalized Markup Language (SMGL), such asHyperText Markup Language (HTML), a wireless application protocol (WAP),a Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), such as Wireless MarkupLanguage (WML), WMLScript, JavaScript, and the like. In embodiments, theinvention is programmed in either Java or .Net.

In embodiments, member devices 102-104 may be further configured toreceive a message from the another computing device employing anothermechanism, including, but not limited to email, Short Message Service(SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), instant messaging (IM),internet relay chat (IRC), mIRC, Jabber, and the like.

In embodiments, network 105 may be configured to couple one computingdevice to another computing device to enable them to communicate. Inembodiments, network 105 may be enabled to employ any form of computerreadable media for communicating information from one electronic deviceto another. Also, in embodiments, network 105 may include a wirelessinterface, and/or a wired interface, such as the Internet, in additionto local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), directconnections, such as through a universal serial bus (USB) port, otherforms of computer-readable media, or any combination thereof. Inembodiments, on an interconnected set of LANs, including those based ondiffering architectures and protocols, a router may act as a linkbetween LANs, enabling messages to be sent from one to another.

Also, in some embodiments, communication links within LANs typicallyinclude twisted wire pair or coaxial cable, while communication linksbetween networks may utilize analog telephone lines, full or fractionaldedicated digital lines including T1, T2, T3, and T4, IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs),wireless links including satellite links, or other communications linksknown to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, in some embodiments,remote computers and other related electronic devices could be remotelyconnected to either LANs or WANs via a modem and temporary telephonelink. In essence, in some embodiments, network 105 includes anycommunication method by which information may travel between clientdevices 102-104, and servers 106 and 107.

FIG. 12 shows another exemplary embodiment of the computer and networkarchitecture that can support the instant invention. The member devices202 a, 202 b thru 202 n shown (e.g., electronic devices ofcustomers/service providers) each at least includes a computer-readablemedium, such as a random access memory (RAM) 208 coupled to a processor210 or FLASH memory. The processor 210 may execute computer-executableprogram instructions stored in memory 208. Such processors comprise amicroprocessor, an ASIC, and state machines. Such processors comprise,or may be in communication with, media, for example computer-readablemedia, which stores instructions that, when executed by the processor,cause the processor to perform the steps described herein. Embodimentsof computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, anelectronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage or transmission devicecapable of providing a processor, such as the processor 210 of client202 a, with computer-readable instructions. Other examples of suitablemedia may include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD,magnetic disk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, an ASIC, a configured processor,all optical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media, or anyother medium from which a computer processor can read instructions.Also, various other forms of computer-readable media may transmit orcarry instructions to a computer, including a router, private or publicnetwork, or other transmission device or channel, both wired andwireless. The instructions may comprise code from anycomputer-programming language, including, for example, C, C++, C#,Visual Basic, Java, Python, Perl, and JavaScript.

Member devices 202 a-n may also comprise a number of external orinternal devices such as a mouse, a CD-ROM, DVD, a keyboard, a display,or other input or output devices. Examples of client devices 202 a-n maybe personal computers, digital assistants, personal digital assistants,cellular phones, mobile phones, smart phones, pagers, digital tablets,laptop computers, Internet appliances, and other processor-baseddevices. In general, a client device 202 a are be any type ofprocessor-based platform that is connected to a network 206 and thatinteracts with one or more application programs. Client devices 202 a-nmay operate on any operating system capable of supporting a browser orbrowser-enabled application, such as Microsoft™, Windows™, or Linux. Theclient devices 202 a-n shown may include, for example, personalcomputers executing a browser application program such as MicrosoftCorporation's Internet Explorer™, Apple Computer, Inc.'s Safari™,Mozilla Firefox, and Opera. Through the client devices 202 a-n, users(e.g. players, agents, etc.) 212 a-n communicate over the network 206with each other and with other systems and devices coupled to thenetwork 206. As shown in FIG. 12, server devices 204 and 213 may be alsocoupled to the network 206.

In some embodiments, the term “mobile electronic device” may refer toany portable electronic device that may or may not be enabled withlocation tracking functionality. For example, a mobile electronic devicecan include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), Blackberry™, Pager, Smartphone, or any other reasonablemobile electronic device. For ease, at times the above variations arenot listed or are only partially listed, this is in no way meant to be alimitation.

In some embodiments, the terms “proximity detection,” “locating,”“location data,” “location information,” and “location tracking” as usedherein may refer to any form of location tracking technology or locatingmethod that can be used to provide a location of a mobile electronicdevice, such as, but not limited to, at least one of locationinformation manually input by a user, such as, but not limited toentering the city, town, municipality, zip code, area code, crossstreets, or by any other reasonable entry to determine a geographicalarea; Global Positions Systems (GPS); GPS accessed using Bluetooth™; GPSaccessed using any reasonable form of wireless and/or non-wirelesscommunication; WiFi™ server location data; Bluetooth™ based locationdata; triangulation such as, but not limited to, network basedtriangulation, WiFi™ server information based triangulation, Bluetooth™server information based triangulation; Cell Identification basedtriangulation, Enhanced Cell Identification based triangulation,Uplink-Time difference of arrival (U-TDOA) based triangulation, Time ofarrival (TOA) based triangulation, Angle of arrival (AOA) basedtriangulation; techniques and systems using a geographic coordinatesystem such as, but not limited to, longitudinal and latitudinal based,geodesic height based, cartesian coordinates based; Radio FrequencyIdentification such as, but not limited to, Long range RFID, Short rangeRFID; using any form of RFID tag such as, but not limited to active RFIDtags, passive RFID tags, battery assisted passive RFID tags; or anyother reasonable way to determine location. For ease, at times the abovevariations are not listed or are only partially listed, this is in noway meant to be a limitation.

In some embodiments, NFC can represent a short-range wirelesscommunications technology in which NFC-enabled devices are “swiped,”“bumped,” “tap” or otherwise moved in close proximity to communicate. Insome embodiments, NFC could include a set of short-range wirelesstechnologies, typically requiring a distance of 10 cm or less.

In some embodiment, NFC can operates at 13.56 MHz on ISO/IEC 18000-3 airinterface and at rates ranging from 106 kbit/s to 424 kbit/s. In someembodiments, NFC can involve an initiator and a target; the initiatoractively generates an RF field that can power a passive target. In someembodiment, this can enable NFC targets to take very simple form factorssuch as tags, stickers, key fobs, or cards that do not requirebatteries. In some embodiments, NFC peer-to-peer communication can beconducted when a plurality of NFC-enable device within close proximityof each other.

In some embodiments, NFC tags can contain data and be read-only orrewriteable. In some embodiment, NFC tags can be custom-encoded. In someembodiments, NFC tags and/or NFC-enabled device (e.g., smart phones withNFC capabilities) can securely store personal data such as debit andcredit card information, loyalty program data, PINs and networkingcontacts, among other information.

In some embodiments, data may also be communicated using any wirelessmeans of communication, such as 4G, 3G, GSM, GPRS, WiFi, WiMax, andother remote local or remote wireless communication using informationobtained via the interfacing of a wireless NFC enabled mobile device toa smart poster. In some embodiments, the term “wireless communications”includes communications conducted at ISO 14443 and ISO 18092 interfaces.In some embodiments, the communications between user's NFC-enabled smartdevice and the a service provider's equipment (e.g., terminals, POS,POE, Hosts) is performed, for example, in accordance with the ISO14443A/B standard and/or the ISO 18092 standard.

In some embodiments, user's NFC-enabled smart device and/or serviceprovider's equipment (e.g., terminals, POS, POE, Hosts) can include oneor more additional transceivers (e.g., radio, Bluetooth, and/or WiFitransceivers) and associated antennas, and enabled to communicate witheach other by way of one or more mobile and/or wireless protocols.

In some embodiments, NFC tags can include one or more integratedcircuits. In some embodiments, user's NFC-enabled smart device mayinclude a cellular transceiver coupled to the processor and receiving acellular network timing signal. In some embodiments, user's NFC-enabledsmart device may further include a satellite positioning receivercoupled to the processor and receiving a satellite positioning systemtiming signal, and the processor may accordingly be configured tosynchronize the internal timing signal to the satellite positioningsystem timing signal as the external timing signal. In some embodiments,the processor of user's NFC-enabled smart device may be configured tosynchronize the internal timing signal to the common external systemtiming signal via the NFC circuit.

In some embodiments, user's NFC-enabled smart device may include a powersource, an NFC circuit configured to wirelessly communicate using an NFCcommunications protocol, and a processor coupled to the power source andthe NFC circuit. In some embodiments, the processor of user'sNFC-enabled smart device may be configured to synchronize an internaltiming signal to an external timing signal, cycle power to the NFCcircuit to periodically switch the NFC circuit between a peer-to-peerrecognition state and a low power state based upon the synchronizedinternal timing signal, and initiate peer-to-peer NFC communicationswith another NFC device when in range thereof and upon beingsimultaneously switched to the peer-to-peer recognition state therewith.

In some embodiments, user's NFC-enabled smart device may include arelated physical computer-readable medium and may havecomputer-executable instructions for causing user's NFC-enabled smartdevice to initiating peer-to-peer NFC communications with another NFCdevice when in range thereof and upon being simultaneously switched tothe peer-to-peer recognition state therewith.

In some embodiments, the processor of user's NFC-enabled smart devicemay be configured for communicating wireless voice and data via acellular transceiver via a cellular communications network. By way ofexample, the data communications may include, but not limited to, emailmessages, Web data, etc. In some embodiments, user's NFC-enabled smartdevice may in addition (or instead) include other types of wirelesscommunications circuits capable of transmitting voice or other data,such as a wireless LAN, WiMAX, etc., circuit. In some embodiments, theprocessor of user's NFC-enabled smart device may proceed directly tocommunicate with the trusted NFC device, and in the case of a “smartposter” NFC device (e.g., SLP/SLS), such as one configured to pass aUniform Resource Locator (URL), the processor may automatically direct abrowser application thereof to the URL without prompting for permissionto proceed to the designated location.

In some embodiments, the instant invention provides for a method beingimplemented by an improved computer system programmed for searching inaccordance with the method, including at least steps of: causing, by aspecially programmed computer rating system, to concurrently display atleast one first graphical user interface from a plurality of firstgraphical user interfaces to a plurality of consumers, where the atleast one first graphical user interface of the plurality of firstgraphical user interfaces is configured to obtain from each consumerfrom the plurality of consumers at least: a) personal identifyinginformation of such consumer to validate an identity of such consumer;and b) a confirmation that such consumer meets a plurality ofrequirements to be satisfied for rating a business, where the pluralityof requirements include: 1) a first requirement, requiring that suchconsumer has interacted with a particular business within apredetermined time period prior to a rating of the particular business;2) a second requirement, requiring that such consumer has not and willnot be compensated by the particular business for the rating, a thirdparty, or both; 3) a third requirement, requiring that such consumer isobligated to disclose any one of personal relationship and businessrelationship, existing between: i) such consumer, any person associatedwith such consumer, or both, and ii) the particular business; 4) afourth requirement, requiring that the information submitted by suchconsumer, at a submission time, is: i) truthful, ii) accurate, and iii)authored by such consumer; and 5) a fifth requirement, requiring thatsuch consumer must not: i) misrepresent the identity of such consumer,and ii) impersonate another consumer, a business, or both; where theplurality of consumers includes at least one thousand consumers; priorto allowing each consumer to rate at least one business, validating, bythe specially programmed computer rating system, each consumer based onthe personal identifying information of such consumer; based on theconfirmation, causing, by the specially programmed computer ratingsystem, to concurrently display at least one second graphical userinterface from a plurality of second graphical user interfaces to theplurality of consumers, where the at least one second graphical userinterface of the plurality of second graphical user interfaces isconfigured to display a consumer rating survey having a predeterminednumber of questions to each consumer of the plurality of consumers forrating at least one business of a plurality of businesses, where thepredetermined number of questions are configured to evaluate eachbusiness in at least the following rating categories: 1) service, 2)value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5) environment, and 6) price; where theplurality of business includes at least one thousand business; based onresponses received from the plurality of consumers to the consumerrating survey for rating the plurality of businesses and predictiveanalytics, calculating or recalculating, by the specially programmedcomputer rating system, a respective rating score in each respectiverating category for each business of the plurality of businesses; andcausing, by the specially programmed computer rating system, toconcurrently output to the plurality of consumers, utilizing at leastone third graphical user interface from a plurality of third graphicaluser interfaces, the respective rating scores in each respective ratingcategories for the plurality of businesses.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: calculating or recalculating an averageoverall rating score for each business of the plurality of businessesbased on rating scores of the rating categories; and where the at leastone third graphical user interface of the plurality of third graphicaluser interfaces is further configured to display the an average ratingscore for each business of the plurality of businesses.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: comparing the average overall rating scorefor each business of the plurality of businesses with an average overallindustry score calculated based on overall rating scores in the ratingcategories for other businesses that are associated with the sameindustry associated with such business; and where the at least one thirdgraphical user interface of the plurality of third graphical userinterfaces is further configured to display an outcome of the comparingthe average overall rating score for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses with the average overall industry score.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: comparing the respective rating score ineach respective rating category with an average category industry scorecalculated based on rating scores in the respective rating category forother businesses that are associated with the same industry associatedwith such business; and where the at least one third graphical userinterface of the plurality of third graphical user interfaces is furtherconfigured to display an outcome of the comparing the respective ratingscore in each respective rating category with an average categoryindustry score.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: determining a lowest rating score and arespective rating category associated with the lowest rating score amongthe rating scores of the rating categories; and where the at least onethird graphical user interface of the plurality of third graphical userinterfaces is further configured to display the lowest rating score andthe respective rating category associated with the lowest rating scoreamong the rating scores of the rating categories.

In some embodiments, the calculating or recalculating, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes at least one of: determining a highestrating score and a respective rating category associated with thehighest rating score among the rating scores of the rating categories;and where the at least one third graphical user interface of theplurality of third graphical user interfaces is further configured todisplay the highest rating score and the respective rating categoryassociated with the highest rating score among the rating scores of therating categories.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: continuously and inreal-time tracking, by the specially programmed computer rating system,a plurality of ratings of the plurality of consumers to validate thatthe plurality of requirement for rating are satisfied.

In some embodiments, the at least one second graphical user interface ofthe plurality of second graphical user interfaces is further configuredto allow each consumer of the plurality of consumers to select ananonymity level, identifying how much of the personal identifyinginformation of such consumer to be disclosed with the rating.

In some embodiments, the predetermined number of questions of theconsumer rating survey is at least twenty five questions.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: generating, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, at least one coachingtutorial for each business of the plurality of businesses based on therespective rating score in each respective rating category;

and causing, by the specially programmed computer rating system,utilizing at least one fourth graphical user interface from a pluralityof fourth graphical user interfaces, to output to the at least onecoaching tutorial to such business.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: monitoring, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, a plurality of submissionsreceived by the specially programmed computer rating system to remove atleast one of: 1) advertisements, 2) one of compensations for ratings andoffers for compensations for ratings, and 3) links that cause theplurality of consumers to violate the plurality of requirements forrating businesses.

In some embodiments, the at least one second graphical user interface isfurther configured to obtain subsequent ratings for the same businessfrom the plurality of consumers, where a subsequent rating of aparticular consumer is another rating of the same business that followsand overrides a previous rating of the particular consumer; and wherethe calculating or recalculating the respective rating score in eachrespective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses further includes: based on the subsequent ratings from theplurality of consumers and the predictive analytics, recalculating, bythe specially programmed computer rating system, the respective ratingscore in each respective rating category for each business of theplurality of businesses.

In some embodiments, at least one consumer of the plurality of consumersis one of: i) an individual, and ii) a business that desires to obtainat least one service, at least one product, or both, from anotherbusiness. In some embodiments, at least one business is an individualwho offers for sale at least one service, at least one product, or both.

In some embodiments, the instant invention provides an improved computersystem programmed for searching which includes at least the followingcomponents: at least one specialized computer machine, having: anon-transient memory having at least one region for storing particularcomputer executable program code; and at least one processor forexecuting the particular program code stored in the memory, where theparticular program code is configured to at least perform the followingoperations upon the execution: causing to concurrently display at leastone first graphical user interface from a plurality of first graphicaluser interfaces to a plurality of consumers, where the at least onefirst graphical user interface of the plurality of first graphical userinterfaces is configured to obtain from each consumer from the pluralityof consumers at least: a) personal identifying information of suchconsumer to validate an identity of such consumer; and b) a confirmationthat such consumer meets a plurality of requirements to be satisfied forrating a business, where the plurality of requirements include: 1) afirst requirement, requiring that such consumer has interacted with aparticular business within a predetermined time period prior to a ratingof the particular business; 2) a second requirement, requiring that suchconsumer has not and will not be compensated by the particular businessfor the rating, a third party, or both; 3) a third requirement,requiring that such consumer is obligated to disclose any one ofpersonal relationship and business relationship, existing between: i)such consumer, any person associated with such consumer, or both, andii) the particular business; 4) a fourth requirement, requiring that theinformation submitted by such consumer, at a submission time, is: i)truthful, ii) accurate, and iii) authored by such consumer; and 5) afifth requirement, requiring that such consumer must not: i)misrepresent the identity of such consumer, and ii) impersonate anotherconsumer, a business, or both; where the plurality of consumers includesat least one thousand consumers; prior to allowing each consumer to rateat least one business, validating each consumer based on the personalidentifying information of such consumer; based on the confirmation,causing to concurrently display at least one second graphical userinterface from a plurality of second graphical user interfaces to theplurality of consumers, where the at least one second graphical userinterface of the plurality of second graphical user interfaces isconfigured to display a consumer rating survey having a predeterminednumber of questions to each consumer of the plurality of consumers forrating at least one business of a plurality of businesses, where thepredetermined number of questions are configured to evaluate eachbusiness in at least the following rating categories: 1) service, 2)value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5) environment, and 6) price; where theplurality of business includes at least one thousand business; based onresponses received from the plurality of consumers to the consumerrating survey for rating the plurality of businesses and predictiveanalytics, calculating or recalculating a respective rating score ineach respective rating category for each business of the plurality ofbusinesses; and causing to concurrently output to the plurality ofconsumers, utilizing at least one third graphical user interface from aplurality of third graphical user interfaces, the respective ratingscores in each respective rating categories for the plurality ofbusinesses.

While a number of embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is understood that these embodiments are illustrativeonly, and not restrictive, and that many modifications may becomeapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Further still, thevarious steps may be carried out in any desired order (and any desiredsteps may be added and/or any desired steps may be eliminated).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method being implemented by an improvedcomputer system programmed for rating of businesses in accordance withthe method, comprising: prior to allowing each consumer to rate at leastone business, causing, by a specially programmed computer rating system,via a computer network, to concurrently display at least one firstgraphical user interface to each consumer of a plurality of consumers onrespective computing devices of the plurality of consumers, wherein theat least one first graphical user interface is configured toelectronically obtain from each consumer from of the plurality ofconsumers at least: a) personal identifying information of such consumerto validate an identity of such consumer; and b) a confirmation thatsuch consumer meets a plurality of requirements to be satisfied forrating a business, wherein the plurality of requirements comprise: 1) afirst requirement, requiring that such consumer has interacted with aparticular business within a predetermined time period prior to a ratingof the particular business; 2) a second requirement, requiring that suchconsumer has not and will not be compensated by the particular businessfor the rating, a third party, or both; 3) a third requirement,requiring that such consumer is obligated to disclose any one ofpersonal relationship and business relationship, existing between: i)such consumer, any person associated with such consumer, or both, andii) the particular business; 4) a fourth requirement, requiring that theinformation submitted by such consumer, at a submission time, is: i)truthful, ii) accurate, and iii) authored by such consumer; and 5) afifth requirement, requiring that such consumer must not: i)misrepresent the identity of such consumer, and ii) impersonate anotherconsumer, a business, or both; and c) responses to a plurality ofpre-qualification verification questions which: 1) are automaticallyprovided by the specially programmed computer rating system, and 2)comprise a subset of pre-qualification verification questions which areautomatically customized by the specially programmed computer ratingsystem based, at least in part, on at least one industry segmentassociated with the at least one business; wherein the plurality ofconsumers comprises at least one thousand consumers; validating, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, each consumer based on thepersonal identifying information of such consumer; based on thevalidating and the confirmation, causing, by the specially programmedcomputer rating system, via the computer network, to concurrentlydisplay at least one second graphical user interface to each of aplurality of validated consumers on the respective computing devices ofthe plurality of validated consumers, wherein the at least one secondgraphical user interface is configured to display at least one consumerrating survey having a predetermined number of questions for rating theat least one business of the plurality of businesses, wherein thepredetermined number of questions are divided into a plurality ofgroups, wherein each group of questions is correlated to a respectiverating category of a plurality of rating categories, comprising at leastthe following rating categories: 1) service, 2) value, 3) ethics, 4)competence, 5) environment, and 6) price; wherein the predeterminednumber of questions of the consumer rating survey is at least twentyfive questions; wherein the at least one second graphical user interfaceis further configured to allow each validated consumer of the pluralityof validated consumers to select an anonymity level, identifying howmuch of the personal identifying information of such validated consumerto be disclosed with the rating; wherein the plurality of businessescomprises at least one thousand businesses; electronically receiving, bythe specially programmed computer matching system, via the computernetwork, from at least one first validated consumer of the plurality ofvalidated consumers, utilizing at least one first computing device,responses to the at least one consumer rating survey having thepredetermined number of questions; analyzing, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, for the at least one business of theplurality of businesses, the responses based, at least in part, onpredictive analytics to calculate or recalculate a respective ratingcategory score for each of the respective rating category of theplurality of rating categories, comprising at least the following ratingcategories: 1) service, 2) value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5)environment, and 6) price; and for the at least one business of theplurality of businesses, causing, via the computer network, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, to concurrently output toat least one first group of the plurality of consumers, utilizing atleast one third graphical user interface on respective computing devicesof the at least one first group of the plurality of consumers, therespective rating category scores for the at least the following ratingcategories: 1) service, 2) value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5)environment, and 6) price.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:calculating or recalculating, by the specially programmed computerrating system, an average overall rating score for the at least onebusiness of the plurality of businesses based on the respective ratingcategory scores for the plurality of the rating categories; and whereinthe at least one third graphical user interface is further configured todisplay the average rating score for the at least one business.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising: comparing, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, the average overall rating score forthe at least one business with an average overall industry scorecalculated based on overall rating scores of other businesses that areassociated with the same industry with which the at least one businessis associated; and wherein the at least one third graphical userinterface is further configured to display an outcome of the comparing.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparing, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, for the at least onebusiness, each respective rating score of the respective rating categoryscores with a corresponding average industry rating category score forthe same rating category of the plurality of rating categories, whereinthe corresponding average industry rating category score is calculated,by the specially programmed computer rating system, based on ratingcategory scores received by other businesses in the same ratingcategory; and wherein the at least one third graphical user interface isfurther configured to display an outcome of the comparing.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the specially programmedcomputer rating system, a lowest rating category score and a respectiverating category associated with the lowest rating category score amongthe respective rating category scores of the at least one business; andwherein the at least one third graphical user interface is furtherconfigured to display the lowest rating category score and therespective rating category associated with the lowest rating categoryscore.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by thespecially programmed computer rating system, a highest rating categoryscore and a respective rating category associated with the highestrating category score among the respective rating category scores of theat least one business; and wherein the at least one third graphical userinterface is further configured to display the highest rating categoryscore.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:generating, by the specially programmed computer rating system, at leastone coaching tutorial for the at least one business of the plurality ofbusinesses based, at least on part, on the respective rating categoryscores in each respective rating category; and causing, by the speciallyprogrammed computer rating system, utilizing at least one fourthgraphical user interface from a plurality of fourth graphical userinterfaces, to output to the at least one coaching tutorial to suchbusiness.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises: monitoring, by the specially programmed computer ratingsystem, a plurality of submissions received by the specially programmedcomputer rating system to remove at least one of: 1) advertisements, 2)one of compensations for ratings and offers for compensations forratings, and 3) links that cause the plurality of consumers to violatethe plurality of requirements for rating businesses.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one second graphical user interface isfurther configured to obtain at least one subsequent rating for the atleast one business from a particular validated consumer of the pluralityof validated consumers, wherein the at least one subsequent rating isutilized, by the specially programmed computer rating system, to atleast one of: 1) to show historical rating of the at least one business,2) to override a previous rating of the particular validated consumer',or 3) any combination thereof; and wherein the analyzing furthercomprises: based on the at least one subsequent rating from a particularvalidated consumer of the plurality of validated consumers and thepredictive analytics, recalculating, by the specially programmedcomputer rating system, each respective rating category score for eachrespective rating category for the at least one business.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein at least one consumer of the plurality of consumersis one of: i) an individual, and ii) a business that desires to obtainat least one service, at least one product, or both, from anotherbusiness.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one businessis an individual who offers for sale at least one service, at least oneproduct, or both.
 12. An improved computer system programmed forsearching, comprising: at least one specialized computer machine,comprising: a non-transient memory having at least one region forstoring particular computer executable program code; and at least oneprocessor for executing the particular program code stored in thememory, wherein the particular program code is configured to at leastperform the following operations upon the execution: prior to allowingeach consumer to rate at least one business, causing, via a computernetwork, to concurrently display at least one first graphical userinterface to each consumer of a plurality of consumers on respectivecomputing devices of the plurality of consumers, wherein the at leastone first graphical user interface is configured to electronicallyobtain from each consumer from of the plurality of consumers at least:a) personal identifying information of such consumer to validate anidentity of such consumer; and b) a confirmation that such consumermeets a plurality of requirements to be satisfied for rating a business,wherein the plurality of requirements comprise: 1) a first requirement,requiring that such consumer has interacted with a particular businesswithin a predetermined time period prior to a rating of the particularbusiness; 2) a second requirement, requiring that such consumer has notand will not be compensated by the particular business for the rating, athird party, or both; 3) a third requirement, requiring that suchconsumer is obligated to disclose any one of personal relationship andbusiness relationship, existing between: i) such consumer, any personassociated with such consumer, or both, and ii) the particular business;4) a fourth requirement, requiring that the information submitted bysuch consumer, at a submission time, is: i) truthful, ii) accurate, andiii) authored by such consumer; and 5) a fifth requirement, requiringthat such consumer must not: i) misrepresent the identity of suchconsumer, and ii) impersonate another consumer, a business, or both; andc) responses to a plurality of pre-qualification verification questionswhich: 1) are automatically provided by the specially programmedcomputer rating system, and 2) comprise a subset of pre-qualificationverification questions which are automatically customized by thespecially programmed computer rating system based, at least in part, onat least one industry segment associated with the at least one business;wherein the plurality of consumers comprises at least one thousandconsumers; validating each consumer based on the personal identifyinginformation of such consumer; based on the validating and theconfirmation, causing, via the computer network, to concurrently displayat least one second graphical user interface to each of a plurality ofvalidated consumers on the respective computing devices of the pluralityof validated consumers, wherein the at least one second graphical userinterface is configured to display at least one consumer rating surveyhaving a predetermined number of questions for rating the at least onebusiness of the plurality of businesses, wherein the predeterminednumber of questions are divided into a plurality of groups, wherein eachgroup of questions is correlated to a respective rating category of aplurality of rating categories, comprising at least the following ratingcategories: 1) service, 2) value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5)environment, and 6) price; wherein the predetermined number of questionsof the consumer rating survey is at least twenty five questions; whereinthe at least one second graphical user interface is further configuredto allow each validated consumer of the plurality of validated consumersto select an anonymity level, identifying how much of the personalidentifying information of such validated consumer to be disclosed withthe rating; wherein the plurality of businesses comprises at least onethousand businesses; electronically receiving, via the computer network,from at least one first validated consumer of the plurality of validatedconsumers, utilizing at least one first computing device, responses tothe at least one consumer rating survey having the predetermined numberof questions; analyzing, for the at least one business of the pluralityof businesses, the responses based, at least in part, on predictiveanalytics to calculate or recalculate, a respective rating categoryscore for each of the respective rating category of the plurality ofrating categories, comprising at least the following ratingcategories: 1) service, 2) value, 3) ethics, 4) competence, 5)environment, and 6) price; and for the at least one business of theplurality of businesses, causing, via the computer network, toconcurrently output to at least one first group of the plurality ofconsumers, utilizing at least one third graphical user interface onrespective computing devices of the at least one first group of theplurality of consumers, the respective rating category scores for the atleast the following rating categories: 1) service, 2) value, 3) ethics,4) competence, 5) environment, and 6) price.
 13. The improved computersystem of claim 12, wherein the particular program code is furtherconfigured to at least perform: calculating or recalculating an averageoverall rating score for the at least one business of the plurality ofbusinesses based on the respective rating category scores for theplurality of the rating categories; and wherein the at least one thirdgraphical user interface is further configured to display the averagerating score for the at least one business.
 14. The improved computersystem of claim 13, wherein the particular program code is furtherconfigured to at least perform: comparing the average overall ratingscore for the at least one business with an average overall industryscore calculated based on overall rating scores of other businesses thatare associated with the same industry with which the at least onebusiness is associated; and wherein the at least one third graphicaluser interface is further configured to display an outcome of thecomparing.
 15. The improved computer system of claim 12, wherein theparticular program code is further configured to at least perform:comparing, by the specially programmed computer rating system, for theat least one business, each respective rating score of the respectiverating category scores with a corresponding average industry ratingcategory score for the same rating category of the plurality of ratingcategories, wherein the corresponding average industry rating categoryscore is calculated, by the specially programmed computer rating system,based on rating category scores received by other businesses in the samerating category; and wherein the at least one third graphical userinterface is further configured to display an outcome of the comparing.16. The improved computer system of claim 12, wherein the particularprogram code is further configured to at least perform: determining alowest rating category score and a respective rating category associatedwith the lowest rating category score among the respective ratingcategory scores of the at least one business; and wherein the at leastone third graphical user interface is further configured to display thelowest rating category score and the respective rating categoryassociated with the lowest rating category score.
 17. The improvedcomputer system of claim 12, wherein the particular program code isfurther configured to at least perform: determining a highest ratingcategory score and a respective rating category associated with thehighest rating category score among the respective rating categoryscores of the at least one business; and wherein the at least one thirdgraphical user interface is further configured to display the highestrating category score.
 18. The improved computer system of claim 12,wherein the particular program code is further configured to at leastperform the following operations upon the execution: generating at leastone coaching tutorial for the at least one business of the plurality ofbusinesses based, at least on part, on the respective rating categoryscores in each respective rating category; and causing, utilizing atleast one fourth graphical user interface from a plurality of fourthgraphical user interfaces, to output to the at least one coachingtutorial to such business.
 19. The improved computer system of claim 12,wherein the particular program code is further configured to at leastperform the following operations upon the execution: monitoring aplurality of electronic submissions to remove at least one of: 1)advertisements, 2) one of compensations for ratings and offers forcompensations for ratings, and 3) links that cause the plurality ofconsumers to violate the plurality of requirements for ratingbusinesses.
 20. The improved computer system of claim 12, wherein the atleast one second graphical user interface is further configured toobtain at least one subsequent rating for the at least one business froma particular validated consumer of the plurality of validated consumers,wherein the at least one subsequent rating is utilized to at least oneof: 1) to show historical rating another rating of the at least onebusiness, 2) to override a previous rating of the particular validatedconsumer', or 3) any combination thereof; and wherein the analyzingfurther comprises: based on the at least one subsequent rating from aparticular validated consumer of the plurality of validated consumersand the predictive analytics, recalculating each respective ratingcategory score for each respective rating category for the at least onebusiness.
 21. The improved computer system of claim 12, wherein at leastone consumer of the plurality of consumers is one of: i) an individual,and ii) a business that desires to obtain at least one service, at leastone product, or both, from another business.
 22. The improved computersystem of claim 12, wherein the at least one business is an individualwho offers for sale at least one service, at least one product, or both.